DC and the white line

[Sworks20]

This race has gone to the dogs unfortunately.

[Big H*]

 

 

189th I would not really even bother . 1st another story I would assume .

 

So would the one killing with a blunt knife be less guilty than the one killing with a motor bomb? ....... But you would not understand, you confessed disobeying the law here on the Hub.

[Agteros]

Nooo. If there is a formal complaint then PPA would have to follow process and the top teams would need to be disqualified, which would be a very very silly outcome.

 

I would also be Mr popularity ;>)

So do it. The complaint against your team did not raise itself.

If everybody crosses the line, but only some are 'punished' then it is absurd. So play the absurd game right back at everybody else.... organisers included

 

Or else, man up, chin up and take it like a man: Quietly on the chin (And off the hub!)

[Lucky Luke.]

Typo: 2011 start times.

 

Nope, we were 4th in 2011 - we started pretty late and the winners started after us.

 

But yes, surely the only sensible format is to start the fast teams first.

 

However, I can see that for the very slow teams, and for the organisers, this could cause a problem due to the very late finish times / extreme heat etc.

 

In which case, one solution would be to limit the support vehicles to say 20 seeded racing teams across all cats - open, mixed, 12 man prize etc.

 

Start those 20 seeded racing teams early, fastest team first, and thereafter proceed with your reverse order start times - slowest team first, fastest non-seeded team last, with no support vehicles for the remaining 300 odd teams.

 

Support vehicles are usually a pro / elite team luxury, and this race should be no different, especially given the problems we see every year. My wife will be delighted to hear she doesn't have to do it ever again.

 

The organisers could collect say three hampers per team to be placed at three designated team rest areas across the course. Say, top of Op da Tradouw, at Ashton or Montague, and another one at Bonnievale.

 

These hampers would need to be dropped off the night before or super early on the morning of the event to get to their destination in time for the first teams coming through.

 

Problem solved.

Edited November 25, 2013 by Lucky Luke.

[Velouria]

In 2012 Elites / PRO teams started first at 5am. Why did the organisers change this for 2013?

Let me try and find out.

Nope, in 2012 the fast teams all started at the back as well. A few years before that the top 10 started in the middle of the field.

 

Starting the slow teams at the back means they ride in the heat of the day for longer.

 

It's a catch 22 either way.

[90 Inch]

My 2 cents about this topic and other input. I was hired by some teams and corporates to take some images so I was in the thick of it. I am not a tittle tale so NO Team names will be mentioned but there were plenty of teams crossing the line and when I upload the images onto my facebook page, I will make sure not to expose anyone as its not my place. Now on the support vehicles...utter shock! Every time I passed a team I use the right hand side yellow lane and honk my horn as far back as 20m as I approached the teams and when going past but some support vehicles were flying past the teams at high speed without letting them know they were passing so they catch back up with their team. Saw a support vehicle crest a rise while passing a team just to run a approaching vehicle off the road to avoid a head on collision. Another had to push his way into a large group of teams cause he miss judged a opening when a truck approached. Yes 202km is long but if the teams can do the first half without them then why cant they do the 2nd half without them and just have feeding zones?

 

I must agree the biggest threat to rider safety I saw was from support vehicles trying to keep up with their teams at all costs, passing 2 or 3 teams at the same time. If the teams did not have to pass each other (starting in seeded order) the team cars would not be such an issue.

Edited November 25, 2013 by 90 Inch

[The Crazy German]

The reverse seeding just does not work for a Team TT of this sise, almost every team starts behind teams that are slower than they are so there is guaranteed to be a lot of passing, especially in the section from 1/3 to 2/3 distance. This is exactly were the narrow road between Montague and Ashton needs to be negotiated, and where the Team Car's come into play. Unlike CSA events where most team cars are driven by licenced managers who are almost all ex cyclists, DC Team cars are driven by friends and wives, and I saw a number of close calls with team cars passing other team cars and teams where it was not safe to do so.

 

Start in seeded order, there will be almost no passing of other teams, the event will be a lot safer for all, each team will still be on the road for the same number of hours....

 

But PPA will then have to man the finish line for 3 or 4 hours longer, and that is the obstacle !

 

I don't agree firstly its very hard to seed an event like Double Century, even individual performances of riders only give a relatively accurate seeding. Same as for past team performance as team strength varies a lot and there are many one of combo's. I have only ridden DC once my team got seeded as 9 th starter among the social teams as we where seen as not slow but not too fast. We went on to break the course record.

 

Also it will give very boring racing amongst the top teams and unfair advantage to the last starter. I would now my tactic fast from the gun and just go and sit 100m behind the opponents and match their speed. The fact that its a bit spread and that you sometimes have to guess gaps to teams that left 15 min or half an hour before or after you gives it some of its charm.

 

Thirdly you would put the weaker teams in the main heat of the day so they would be extra punished and more health risks incurred.

[Sworks20]

Nope, we were 4th in 2011 - we started pretty late and the winners started after us.

 

But yes, surely the only sensible format is to start the fast teams first.

 

However, I can see that for the very slow teams, and for the organisers, this could cause a problem due to the very late finish times / extreme heat etc.

 

In which case, one solution would be to limit the support vehicles to say 20 seeded racing teams across all cats - open, mixed, 12 man prize etc.

 

Start those 20 seeded racing teams early, fastest team first, and thereafter proceed with your reverse order start times - slowest team first, fastest non-seeded team last, with no support vehicles for the remaining 300 odd teams.

 

Support vehicles are usually a pro / elite team luxury, and this race should be no different, especially given the problems we see every year. My wife will be delighted to hear she doesn't have to do it ever again.

 

The organisers could collect say three hampers per team to be placed at three designated team rest areas across the course. Say, top of Op da Tradouw, at Ashton or Montague, and another one at Bonnievale.

 

These hampers would need to be dropped off the night before or super early on the morning of the event to get to their destination in time for the first teams coming through.

 

Problem solved.

 

LL Anderson finished 3rd that year after DQ's were made official. Brother Sports had riders holding onto cars - Lance Muller, feeding from the vehicle and riding on the yellow line on the opposite side of the road never mind over the white line. Take credit for your good ride.

 

I was in a car following just behind them at 1 stage.

[Lucky Luke.]

Thanks, but I didn't appreciate what happened after that DC and paid no attention to any of the DQ's and bitch fighting.

 

Even during the race there were a couple of unnecessary interactions between our team and other riders that I would prefer to forget.

[Meezo]

I think this will solve some problems but then create a new set of problems other than PPA having to man the finish time for longer.

 

Maybe the current set-up is the lesser of two evils? If there was an easy solution to this dog's breakfast we probably would have seen it by now.

 

exactly that, the main goal by PPA was to make sure riders all finish "sort of" close together.

 

I'm not sure what the times are, but what time does the last team(currently the highest seeded) start?

Can one imagine the slowest team would 10hrs(is this cutoff time)? So it would mean more for them logistically.

 

but on the other side of the scale white line, overtaking could cause a crash and possibly worse death.

Then what?

 

I would say we should obey the rules.... achieving this ?

Edited November 26, 2013 by Meezo

[LongDonkey]

Willem v T, is that you?

Nope

Sounds like a stand up chap though.